Apparatus for administering radium emanations



March 15, 1927.

H. B. PALMER APPARATUS FOR ADMINISTERING RADIUM EMANATIONS Filed NOV. 1923 BY M @w ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 15, 1927.

tJNlTED STATES I-IABBY B. PALMER, OF MENDHAM, NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR ADMYINISTERING RADIUM EMANATIQNS.

Application filed November 16,- 1923. Serial No. 675,119.

This invention relates, generally, to a novel means of supplying and a novel means for administering to patients medicinal doses of radium emanation.

The invention has for its principal object to provide a novel sealed capsule or cartridge charged with radium emanation or gas, the content of which, by means of a novel apparatus, may be administered in predetermined dosage quantity to the user or patient; and the invention also has for a further object to provide a novel construction of device adapted to both measure and administer to the patient a predetermined quantity of the radium emanation content of a capsule or cartridge according to the desired dosage without danger of loss or deterioration.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularly enumerated will be clearly understood. from the following detailed description of the same.

With the various objects of this invention in view, the same consists, primarily, in the novel means for dispensing and administerhereinafter set forth; and the invention consists,furthermore, in the novel arrangements and combinations of the several devices and parts comprising the dose administering apparatus, as well as in the details of the construction of the same, all of which will be more fully described in the following specification, and then finally embodied in the claims appended thereto.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the acvoinpai'lying drawings, in which 1 Fig. 1 shows a vertical, longitudinal section of the novel, apparatus for administering medicinal doses of radium emanation, the same being charged with a radium emanation containing capsule or cartridge disposed in normal initial position ready for use; F 2 is a side view of the capsule or cartridge hohler of the apparatus, the same being removed from operative relation to the main body of said apparatus; Figs. 3 and a are fragmentary vertical longitudinal sections of the apparatus, showing difiterent' stages of the operations for retrieving mg medicinal doses of radium emanation,

successive doses of radium emanation from the containing capsule or cartridge; Fig; 5 is a detail transverse section, taken on line 5-5 in Fig. 3 looking upward; and Fig; 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical longitudinal section, showing the operation oi the means for tapping or discharging the content of the capsule or cartridge:

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the 'herein above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to said. drawings, thereference character 1 indicates a bottle-like container or jar which provides :a water reservoir or chamber 2, the same having an open filling neck or mouth at its-"upper end. 'Removably connected with said container or jar 1, by fitting its depending stopper-boss into said fillingneckor mouth 8, is a housing member 5 having an interior chamber 6' open at its lower end so as to communicate with the water reservoir or chamber 2 of the container or jar 1. The upper end ofsaid housing member 5' terminates in a tubular neck-portion 7 of reduced diameter, providing a passage '8 which is open at its upper end, and which communicates at itsloweren'd with the interior chamber 6 of said housing member. Formed in the side wall of said housing. member 5 is a lateral passage or openingt) withvvhich is associated a stufiing-box member 10.

The reference character 11' indicates a vertical discharge pipe or tube which is prefer ably made of glass, and which is provided at its upper end with a laterally projeotingarm or extension12,-and at its lower end with a goose-neck o'r U-shap'ed portion lijtermb' nating in an upward extension or arm 14 at the free end of which is an enlarged member or bulb-portion l5 liming on its upper sur face an upwardly directed sharp spur or piercing point 16. Said enlarged member or bulb-portion 15 provided in its undersicld-adjacent to the juncture thereof with said extension or arm 14, with a port or opening 17.

Said discharge pipe or tube 11 is-arranged with its upper portion disposed within and at one side the interiorchamber 6 said housing member 5, so as to project down-- wardly through the lower open end of said chamber 6 and into the water reservoir or chamber 2 of the container or jar 1. The laterally projecting arm or extension 12 of said discharge pipe or tube extends outwardly through the passage or opening 9 and through the stufiing-box member 10 connected with said housing member 5, so that the free end of said arm or extension is exteriorly projected from said housing member. Coupled with said exteriorly projected free end of said arm or extension 12 isa suction tube 18, preferably made of a suitable lexible material, such as rubber, and the free end of said suction tube 18 is provided with a suitable mouth-piece 19 made of glass or of any other suitable material. The goose-neck or U-shaped portion 13 oil-sets the upward extension or arm 14L so that the latter is disposed in substantial longitudinal vertical alinement with the longitudinal axis of said housing member 5 and its neck-portion 7. Suitably secured within the lower open end of said housing member 5, so as to extend downwardly therefrom into the water reservoir or chamber 2 of the container or jar 1, and so as to enclose the downwardly extending discharge pipe or tube and the extension or arm 14: and associated parts thereof, is a tubular be1lmember 20 having an open lower extremity or mouth.

The reference character 21 indicates a guide-ferrule, having at its underside a stopper portion 22 which fits into the upper open end of said neck-portion 7 of the housing member 5, and having at its upper end a laterally projecting annular flange 23, the peripheral surface of which is preferably knurled, and which provides a finger-piece for grasping said guide-ferrule when connecting or disconnecting the same from normal operative relation to the neck-portion 7. Said guide-ferrule 21 is provided with a cen- .tral vertical or axially alincd opening or guideway 2 in which is slidably disposed for vertical movement the stem 25 of a capsule or cartridge holder. Said capsule or cartridge holder, which is connected with the lower or inner end of said stem 25, comprises a tubular socket-member 26, the walls of which are provided with longitudinal. slits 27 extending upwardly from the lower open end of said socket-member, to thus provide I more or less yieldable or resilient wall-sections for frictionally engaging and holding a capsule or cartridge 28 which contains the radium emanation to be administered to the user of the device. The upper free end of said stem 25 projects above the guide-ferrule 21, and is preferably provided with a finger piece 29. Formed in the exterior portion of said stem 25 are a series of vertically spaced apart annular grooves, respectively shaped to provide at their upper sides the respective rectangular stop-shoulders 30, 31 and 32, and at their lowersides with. the respective inclined or chamfercd shoulders 30, 31. and 32, which incline outwardly from the inner n'largins of said stop-shrnilders to meet the outer surface of said stem. Said stem is also provided with a vertical channel or groove 33 providing a gate in the stop-shoul der 30 leading upwardly to the stop-shoulder 31; and said stem further provided with a similar vertical channel or groove ill providing a gate in the stop-shoulder 31 leading upwardly to the stop-shouhler 32. Said respective channels or grooves and 3a are oft-set in non-alined relation one to the other. Connected with said neck-portion 7 or otherwise suitably fixed and mounted is a yieldablc spring stop-member or detent 35, the free end of which rides against the side of said stem 25.

The capsule or cartridge 28, to be used with the above-described apparatus, is pre ferably made of glass in the form of a small test-tube. The capsules or cartridges are charged with proper quantities of radium emanation at the distributing laboratory and the open ends are then sealed by a suitable frangible cap or cover 28. The capsules or cartridges are then sent to the patient possessing the novel administering apparatus. Each capsule or cartridge contains a plurality of doses, that is a sutiicient quantity of radium emanation to afi'ord several administrations of a prescribed dosage proportion. In making use of the administering apparatus, the patient first fills the chamber 2 of the main container or jar 1 with water. He then removes the guide ferrule 21 from the neck-portion 7 and withdraws therewith the capsule or cartridge holder, thereupon inserting into the latter a capsule or rartridge with its sealed end downward, as shown in the drawings. Before inserting the guide-ferrule 21 into operative relation to the neck-portion 7, the stem 25 is drawn upward and outward. so that all the stop-shoulders 30, 31 and 32 are exposed. The parts being then assembled in operative connected relations, the patient places the mouthpiece of the suction tube 18 in his mouth, and then presses downwardly the stem 25 until the stop-shoulder 30 is arrested by the detent 35. In thus pressing down the stem the capsule or cartridge socket is lowered so that the sealed end of the capsule or cartridge is carried into ongagement with the piercing point 16, which penetrates and breaks the seal 28 and per niits the bulb-portion 15 of the discharge pipe or tube to enter and. extend part way into the interior of said capsule or 211'- tridge. The patient new sucks upon the mouth-piece 19, thus creating a partial vacuum in the suction tube and the discharge pipe or tube, whereupon a portion of the radium emanation contained in the capsule or cartridge will be caused to;fiow by way of the port or opening 17 into thebulb-portion and thence into the discharge pipe or tube and suction tube, and thus to the mouth of the patient for inhalation. As a portion of the radium emanation is thus displaced from the capsule or cartridge, the pressure thereof within the latter is relieved, and water from the chamber 2 will flow into and rise within the capsule or cartridge until itcovers the port or opening 17, thus water-sealing the capsule or cartridge and the discharge pipe or tube against any further passage of radium emanation from said capsule or cartridge. hen the patient sucks water he is at once advised that the dose of radium emanation has been discharged and administered, and suction on the suction tube is discontinued. Since the stop-shoulder is so positioned that it permits only a partial penetration of the receiving end ofthe discharge pipe or tube into thecapsule or cartridge, and sincethe rise of water into sealing or closing relation to the port or opening 17 shuts off further discharge of the radium emanation from the capsule or cartridge, it follows that a considerable quantity of said radium emanation is trapped and sealed against escape from the capsule or cartridge, and is thus held'for future use. When the patient wishes to take a second dose or inhalation of the radium emanation, the stem 25 is given a partial rotation about its ver tical axis untilthe channel or groove 33 is alined with the detent 35, whereupon the stem and capsule or cartridge holder are lowcred another stage until stopped by the engagement of the stop-shoulder 31 with the d-etcnt '35, to thereby cause the bulb-portion 15 and its port or opening 17 to rise in the capsule or cartridge above the water level reviously established therein so as to break the water-seal and permit the suction and discharge; of a second quantity of the radium emanation. Upon the discharge of said second quantity of radium emanation, the water will displace the same and will rise again to scaling relation to the port or opening 17, thus again trapping and sealing off theremaining quantity of radium emanation for future use. A third dose or inhalation may be administered to the patient in the same way, by against rotating the stem 25 to aline the channel or groove ill with the detent 35, and then pushing down the stem until the stop-shoulder 32 arrested by the detent b5, whereupon the bulb-portion 15 and its port or opening 17 will fully penetrate the interior of the capsule or cartridge in position to discharge therefrom the radium emanation remaining therein. It will be understood in retracting or raising the stem 25, the detent will easily ride over the inclined or chamfered portions 30, 31 and 32 so that a straight upward pulizl will raise the capsule or cartridge holder to upwardly drawn initial position By substituting full or charged capsules or cartridges for those emptied, the apparatus may be repeatedly used to administer doses of radium emanation for inhalation by the patient.

I am aware that some changes may be made in the variousarrangements and combinations of the several devices and parts making up my present invention, as well as in the details of the construction of thesame, without departing from the scope of the invent-ion as set forth in the foregoing specification and as defined in the appended claims. Hence, I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the several devices and parts as described in said foregoing specification, nor do I conline myself to the exact details of the construction of said parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

1. In a device of the kind described, a water container, a discharge tube havingan exteriorly directed upper end and a lower end disposed within said container, an upwardly directed receiving arm connected with said lower end of said dischargetube,

said arm having an intake port adjacent to its free extremity, a vertically movable capsule holder, and means for guiding said capsule holder, downward movement of said capsule holdcr being adapted to move a capsule supported thereby into operative relation to the receiving arm whereby the latter penetrates the interior of said capsule to permit the content thereof to enter said intake port and be withdrawn through said discharge tube.

2. In a device of the kind described, a water container, a discharge tube having an exteriorly directed upper end and a lower end disposed within said container, an upwardly directed receiving arm connected with said lower end of said discharge tube, said arm having a bulb-like extremity provided with an upwardly directed piercing point, said bulb-like extremity having a receiving port in its side, a vertically movable capsule holder for supporting a sealed capsule, means for guiding said capsule holder whereby downward movement thereof enters said receiving arm into said capsuleto permit the content of the latter to be withdrawn through said discharge tube, and a suction tube having a mouth-piece connected with the exterior end of said discharge tube.

In a device of the kind described, a

water container, a discharge tube having an exteriorly directed upper end and a lower end disposed within said container, an upwardly directed receiving arm connected with said lower end of said discharge tube, said'arm having a bulb-like extremity provided with said capsule is limited to successive stages,

to enter said receiving arm step by step into said capsule.

4;. In a device of the kind described, a water container, a discharge tube having an exteriorly directed upper end and a lower end disposed within said container, an upwardly directed receiving arm connected. with said lower end of said discharge tube, said arm having a bulb-like extremity provided with an upwardly directed piercing point, said bulb-like extremity having a receiving port in its side, avertically movable capsule holder for supporting a sealed capsule, means for guiding said capsule holder whereby downward movement thereof enters said receiving arm into said capsule to permit the content of the latter to be withdrawn through said discharge tube, a detent means, means connected with said capsule holder to cooperate with said detent means whereby the downward movement of said capsule is limited to successive stages to enter said receiving arm step by step into said capsule, and a suction tube having a mouth-piece connected with said exterior end of said discharge tube.

5. In a device of the kind described, a water container having an open upper end, a housing fitted into the open end of and communicating with the interior of said container, a suction actuated discharge tube connected with said housing to extend from the interior thereof downwardly into said container, said discharge tube having its upper end disposed to project exteriorly from said housing, said discharge tube having an upturned lower end portion provided at its extremity with a piercing member and an intake port adjacent said piercing member, a vertically movable capsule holder alined with said upturned lower end portion of said discharge tube, means for guiding said capsule holder, downward movement of said capsule holder being adapted to move a capsule supported thereby into operative relation to said receiving end of said discharge tube whereby the latter penetrates the interior of said capsule and communicates with the content thereof.

6. In a device of the kind described, a water container having an open upper end, a housing fitted into the open end of and communicating with the interior of said con tainer, a suction actuated discharge tube connected with said housing to extend from the interior thereof downwardly into said container, said discharge tube having its upper end disposed to project exteriorly from said housing, said discharge tube having an upturned lower end portion provided at its extremity with a piercing point, a vertically movable capsule holder alined with said upturned lower end portion of said discharge tube, means for guiding said capsule holder, a detent means, and means connected with said capsule holder to cooperate with said detent means whereby said capsule holder may be moved downwardly only by succes sire stages to enter the receiving end of said discharge tube step by step into a capsule supported by said capsule holder.

7. In a device of the kind described, a water container having an open upper end, a housing fitted into the open end of and communicating with the interior of said container, a suction actuated discharge tube connected with said housing to extend from the interior thereof downwardly into said container, said discharge tube having its upper end disposed to project exteriorly from said housing, said discharge tube having an upturned lower end portion provided at its extremity with a piercing point and an intake port adjacent said piercing point, a tubular bell-member depending from said housing member into said water container and surrounding the interiorly disposed part of said discharge tube and its upturned lower end portion, a vertically movable capsule holder alined with said upturned lower end portion of said discharge tube, means for guiding said capsule holder, downward movement of said capsule holder being adapted to move a capsule supported thereby into operative relation to said receiving end of said discharge tube whereby the latter penetrates the interior of said capsule and communicates with the content thereof.

8. In a device of the kind described, a water container having an open upper end, a housing fitted into the open end of and communicating with the interior of said container, a suction actuated discharge tube connected with said housing to extend from the interior thereof downwardly into said container, said discharge tube having its upper end disposed to project exteriorly from said housing, said discharge tube having an upturned lower end portion provided at its extremity with a piercing point and an intake port adjacent said piercing point, a tubular bell-member depending from said housing member into said water container and surrounding the interiorly disposed part of said discharge tube and its upturned lower end portion, a vertically movable capsule holder alined with said upturned end portion of said discharge tube, means for guiding said capsule holder, a detent means, and means connected with said capsule holder to cooperate with said detent means. whereby said capsule holder may be moved downwardly only by successive stages to enter the receiving end of said discharge tube step by step into a capsule supported by said capsule holder.

In testimony that I claim the invention set 1 forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of September, 1923.

HARRY B. PALMER. 

